Do consumers prefer nearby ugly food? Examining the role of spatial-social distance in suboptimal produce preference

Abstract

Visually suboptimal produce refers to produce with certain aesthetic imperfections. In contrast to premium produce, consumers often underestimate the perceived quality of suboptimal produce, leading to reluctance to purchase and resulting in considerable waste and subsequent environmental issues. We observed that production information for suboptimal produce may contain elements of psychological distance, which could serve as a novel factor in promoting consumer purchases of these products. To explore this, we conducted three online experiments to investigate the impact of spatial and social distances on consumers’ purchase intentions. Drawing on Construal Level Theory (CLT) and validated through experiments, our findings indicate that consumers are more likely to choose suboptimal produce with psychologically proximal. Additionally, psychological ownership and perceived quality serve as sequential mediators between psychological distance and purchase intentions, a psychological mechanism that is unique to suboptimal produce (i.e., this effect does not apply to premium produce). Furthermore, we incorporated the concept of information framing, a commonly used tool in previous studies, into the discussion of psychological mechanisms to further clarify its operational process. The results provide new theoretical and practical insights for the market promotion of suboptimal produce.